Zen garden metaphor

I used to have a little zen garden at work, complete with sand, rocks and a little rake. I would come in in the morning and reflect on how I was feeling, then trace my design for the day. It was a fun thing to do and my colleagues who dropped by would sometimes offer creations of their own.

Now the funny thing is, a colleague I didn't like produced a garden absolutely not to my taste. After seeing that creation, it occurred to me that such a garden would be a great psychology test... She had piled the rocks in a corner and the lines from the rake were unequal. To me, this was the antithesis of calmness. I didn't think of it at the time and will never know if that pile of rocks had, for her, positive things associated with it. What is certain is that the creation was distasteful to me and I wasn't sure if it was because of the author or because of the creation. In any case, I found my reaction to it quite interesting and wondered if there was something fundamental in the reason why we did not get along. Perhaps our views on life were so opposite that we did not enjoy working together?

On the other hand, I was always pleased with my friends' efforts. In their uniqueness, there was always something I could relate to. And I guess that is the essence of friendship: the acceptance of the other in his/her uniqueness.